Playoffs bring out best in goalies

STOCKTON - Good goal-tending often is the deciding factor in the playoffs. That's why both teams enter this series feeling good about their chances.

Scott Linesburgh

STOCKTON - Good goal-tending often is the deciding factor in the playoffs. That's why both teams enter this series feeling good about their chances.

In an intriguing matchup of netminders, the Thunder will send Brian Foster into a duel with Bakersfield's Laurent Brossoit, who was arguably the best goalie in the ECHL during the regular season. The series begins at 7 p.m. today when the Central Valley rivals meet in the first game of the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.

The No. 6-seeded Thunder and No. 7 Condors have more than just top-flight goalies, but it's a great place to start.

Before boarding the bus Thursday to head to Bakersfield, Foster at first said he didn't see this as a one-on-one battle with Brossoit, but he soon warmed to the idea of a healthy competition between goalies.

"I like playing good goalies, it definitely makes you step your game up," Foster said. "You see the other goalie make a huge save and you feel like you have to make a huge save. It kind of makes the game more fun and easier to play when the goalie on the other end is playing well, too."

Brossoit was phenomenal all season and has 10 shutouts, including two against Utah in the first round of the playoffs. He has slightly better statistics in the postseason (1.32 goals-against average, .954 save percentage) compared to Foster (1.75, .940), but he lost a game to the Grizzlies while Foster and the Thunder swept the Ontario Reign.

Foster had an uneven season, winning nine of his first 10 games and finishing 23-16-5. He came up with several crucial saves in each game against Ontario.

Thunder coach Rich Kromm decided to start Foster against the Reign instead of rookie Parker Milner, and he will go to him again today.

"I was banking on him rising to the occasion, and he did," Kromm said. "That's what you want to see from your experienced goaltender. Certainly, we have a lot of confidence in Parker if he were to go in, and the two of them are good together."

Condors coach Troy Mann said he's aware of Foster's talent and recruited the goalie in the offseason.

"We spent some time recruiting him in the summer, so I know the quality of goalie he is." Mann said. "We watched a couple of games against Ontario, and I thought he was extremely sharp."

Stockton forward Nick Tremblay knows Brossoit better than most of his teammates. He was with Bakersfield for a few months before being traded by Oklahoma City, the Condors' American Hockey League affiliate, to Bridgeport and placed with Stockton.

"He is a good guy and a tremendous goalie," Tremblay said. "We know he's going to play really well. But all you can do is try to get lots of shots on him, make him move, create traffic in front of the net. I would think they are saying the same thing in the other locker room."

Most of Stockton's offense against the Reign came from its top line - Joey Martin, Jeremy Langlois and Andrew Clark - but Langlois is unlikely to play today because of an upper body injury. He is considered day-to-day, according to Kromm. Langlois leads the Thunder with nine points in three playoff games.

Ryan Hayes, who also had a fine first-round series with four points, will join the line.

"I don't think we have to make a lot of adjustments, Hayes is a great offensive player," Martin said. "I think one of the strengths of our team is our depth. There's a lot of chemistry there."